In an effort to create a more international atmosphere on campus and build up its reputation worldwide, Jiao Tong University will begin offering scholarships to top overseas students this coming fall, school officials revealed yesterday.

The university has set up 1.5 million yuan (US$180,723) to award elite foreign students.

The scholarships will be divided into various levels, with the top grants covering yearly tuition fees of 24,800 yuan for undergraduate students and 28,900 yuan for postgraduates.

The awards are open to all foreign students, regardless of nationality or major, and recipients will be chosen by the university's appraisal committee based on the applicants past academic achievements.

Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao students can also apply for the grants.

"We hope to attract more overseas students by offering the scholarships," said Xu Beilei, the school's dean, adding that the university hopes to have some 2,500 to 3,000 overseas students enrolled by 2005.

There are currently 1,984 overseas students from more than 60 countries and regions enrolled at the university, with most of them hailing from Japan and South Korea.

While some other local universities do offer small rewards to top international students, they generally are much smaller than the grants Jiao Tong will offer.

According to Shen Wenzhong, dean of Fudan University's International Exchange College, elite overseas students are usually awarded 800 to 1,200 yuan a semester.

Noh Tong-ho, a South Korean student at the Shanghai Institute of Physical Education, said the scholarships might not be the best way to attract top students as "foreign students are more concerned about the university."

(Shanghai Daily August 19, 2003)